The ʿIddah — Waiting Periods

What the ʿIddah Is

The ʿiddah is a fixed period that a woman observes after the ending of her marriage — whether by divorce or by the death of her husband — during which she does not contract a new marriage. It is an obligation established by the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam), and the consensus of the Muslims. Its length and its rulings differ according to the woman's situation: whether she was divorced or widowed, whether the marriage was consummated, and whether she is pregnant, still menstruating, or past the age of menstruation.

The Sharīʿah did not leave these periods to custom or estimation. Each case is tied to a clear proof, and the details below follow the plain sense of the texts as understood by the Companions and those who followed them in goodness.

The Divorced Woman: Three Qurūʾ

A woman divorced after consummation, who still menstruates, waits for three qurūʾ. This is stated directly in Sūrat al-Baqarah:

The same verse establishes the husband's right of return (rajʿah) in a revocable divorce: 'And their husbands have more right to take them back during this [period] if they desire reconciliation.' So the ʿiddah of a revocably-divorced woman is also a window for reconciliation, not merely a count-down to separation.

The scholars differed over the meaning of qurūʾ, because the word in Arabic carries two opposite senses — it can mean the menstrual period itself, or the interval of purity (ṭuhr) between two menses. The Ḥanafīs and Ḥanbalīs held that qarʾ is the menstruation, so her ʿiddah ends after her third complete period; the Mālikīs and Shāfiʿīs held that it is the ṭuhr. Both are positions of great imāms argued from the language and from statements of the Companions, and each side has its evidences. The practical result is only a difference of days in when the ʿiddah closes; a woman should follow reliable scholarly guidance and not be troubled that such a difference exists among the people of knowledge.

The Widow: Four Months and Ten Days

A woman whose husband dies waits four months and ten days, whether or not the marriage was consummated, so long as she is not pregnant. Allah says:

During this period the widow observes iḥdād (mourning): she refrains from adornment, perfume, and beautification. This is not the widow's own custom but a command of the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam):

Because the verse of the widow (2:234) is general — 'those who die among you and leave wives' — the majority of scholars held that a widow observes this ʿiddah even if her husband died before consummating the marriage. The exemption for the un-consummated marriage (below) is worded specifically for divorce, not for death.

The Pregnant Woman: Until She Delivers

A pregnant woman's ʿiddah — whether she was divorced or widowed — ends when she gives birth. Her term is delivery, however long or short:

For the pregnant widow, this appears to conflict with the four-months-and-ten-days of 2:234. The apparent conflict was decisively settled by the Sunnah in the case of Subayʿah al-Aslamiyyah, whose husband died while she was pregnant. She gave birth a short time after his death and was told she was free to remarry:

So the majority (jumhūr) held that the verse of delivery (65:4) specifies and restricts the general verse of the widow (2:234): the pregnant widow's ʿiddah ends at delivery even if that is sooner than four months and ten days. It is reported that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) held she should observe the longer of the two terms. This is an honoured opinion, but the ruling of the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) in the ḥadīth of Subayʿah is explicit, and the Companions and the imāms after them acted upon delivery as the end of her ʿiddah.

No ʿIddah, and the Non-Menstruating Woman

A woman divorced before consummation and before private seclusion has no ʿiddah at all. She may remarry at once:

As noted above, this exemption is worded for divorce; the widow observes her ʿiddah even without consummation.

For a woman who does not have menstrual cycles — one who has reached menopause, or a young girl who has not yet begun to menstruate — the ʿiddah is three months in place of the three qurūʾ:

Maintenance & Housing during the ʿIddah

Whether a woman is housed and maintained by her husband during the ʿiddah depends on how much of the marriage bond still stands. Where the tie is not fully severed, his obligation to shelter and provide for her continues; where it is finally cut, it does not. The texts draw this line clearly.

The revocably-divorced woman (rajʿiyyah) is, in the eye of the Sharīʿah, still a wife in most respects: her husband may take her back, they inherit from one another, and she remains in the marital home and is maintained. Allah forbids expelling her, and the whole passage is framed around the hope of reconciliation:

The same sūrah commands the husband to lodge the divorced woman where he himself lives, to the extent of his means, and singles out the pregnant woman for maintenance until she delivers — so a pregnant divorcee is provided for to the end of her term, whatever the form of the divorce, because the maintenance follows the child she carries:

The finally (irrevocably) divorced woman who is not pregnant — chiefly the woman given the third and final divorce, from whom the tie is wholly cut — is a different case. Here the ruling rests on the ḥadīth of Fāṭimah bint Qays (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā), whom the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) directed to keep her ʿiddah elsewhere and granted neither lodging nor maintenance:

The scholars differed over this genuinely. Three positions are recorded: (1) that the finally-divorced non-pregnant woman is owed neither housing nor maintenance — acting on the plain wording of Fāṭimah's ḥadīth; this is the position of Imām Aḥmad and the people of ḥadīth, and it was upheld by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, who held that the command 'do not turn them out' in 65:1 addresses the revocably-divorced woman, since that passage speaks throughout of reconciliation and return. (2) That she keeps housing but not maintenance — the view of Mālik and ash-Shāfiʿī, taking 65:1 as general. (3) That she keeps both — the view of Abū Ḥanīfah. It is authentically reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) was cautious about Fāṭimah's report, saying he would not abandon the Book for the account of one woman who may have forgotten; but the ḥadīth is firmly established in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and the muḥaqqiqūn answered that ʿUmar's caution was itself an ijtihād, not a refutation of the report. The position resting on the explicit Sunnah is the first.

As for the widow, no maintenance is due to her from a husband who has died; her right in his wealth is her fixed share of inheritance (mīrāth). She does, however, pass her ʿiddah in the marital home — the house in which the news of his death reached her — and does not move out without need. This is the command the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) gave to al-Furayʿah bint Mālik (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā), sister of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, when her husband was killed:

At-Tirmidhī graded this ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; it was declared authentic by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim, and acted upon by the majority of the Companions and the imāms after them — that the widow completes her ʿiddah in her husband's home.

The Widow's Mourning (Iḥdād)

Throughout her four months and ten days, the widow observes iḥdād — mourning by leaving off whatever adorns her or draws attention to her, out of fidelity to the marriage bond and respect for the deceased. This is not a private custom but a fixed command, reported through several of the Prophet's wives — Umm Ḥabībah, Zaynab bint Jaḥsh, and Umm Salamah — and recorded in both Ṣaḥīḥs (as in the ḥadīth cited above, al-Bukhārī 1280 and 5334, and Muslim, Kitab al-Talaq — site reader no. 3601): it is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn any dead person beyond three days, except for a husband, for whom the term is four months and ten days.

What iḥdād consists of is spelled out in the ḥadīth of Umm ʿAṭiyyah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā):

So the mourning widow refrains from perfume, from kohl and cosmetics, from dyed or attractive garments worn for beautification, and from jewellery and ornaments. She wears plain, unadorned clothing — the ḥadīth permits undyed woven cloth (ʿaṣb) — and stays in her home without need to leave. The same ḥadīth grants a narrow ease: after she purifies from her menses she may use a small trace of scented incense (qusṭ or aẓfār) for cleanliness, not for beautification. What is forbidden is decking and perfuming herself as a wife does; ordinary washing, everyday plain dress, and necessary movement are not affected.

Iḥdād is obligatory upon the widow by the plain command of these authentic texts, whether or not the marriage had been consummated, since the widow's ʿiddah itself is general (2:234). It is specific to the widow: the majority hold that mourning is not required of a woman in a revocable divorce — for she may yet be taken back — and beyond three days it is not permitted for any other bereavement at all. And Allah knows best.

The Wisdom of the ʿIddah

The ʿiddah is not an arbitrary delay. Several wisdoms are plain from the texts and the words of the scholars. First and foremost is ascertaining the womb is free (barāʾat al-raḥim) — so that lineage is protected and a child is never attributed to two men. This is why the pregnant woman's ʿiddah is tied directly to delivery, and why the standard of the menstruating woman is counted by her cycles.

Second, in the revocable divorce, the ʿiddah is a space for reconciliation, as 2:228 states — a cooling period in which a marriage broken in anger may be mended before it is lost. Third, for the widow, the four months and ten days honour the marriage bond and give due respect and mourning for the deceased husband, as commanded in the ḥadīth of iḥdād. In all of this is the perfection of a legislation that guards lineage, hearts, and the dignity of both the living and the dead.

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